It""s hard to grab what you cannot see. Hence, grab rails on boats are illuminated at night. The current state of the art utilizes mounted dome lights to illuminate rails. However, mounted dome lights are far from ideal. Dome lights create excessive glare, which can blind passengers and compromise safety. Dome lights also expend more energy than self-illuminating grab rails. Finally, dome lights have limited aesthetic appeal. The art cries out for an alternative manner in which to guide users in gripping grab rails.
Designing illuminated grab rails for marine use presents several challenges. First, seawater can cause great damage. An illuminated grab rail must be impervious to water and resistant to corrosion. Furthermore, energy is at a premium aboard ship. A direct current powered light source is preferred. Finally, the ideal grab rail is multifunctional and allows versatility of application.
Rails that provide illumination have been the subjects of earlier patents. The prior art, discussed below, illustrates previous developments.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,504,342 to Jaynes et al. describes a handrail equipped with an ultraviolet bulb and is useful as an accessory in night fishing. The Jaynes handrail has a transparent cover that protects the bulb from the elements. However, the Jaynes patent does not teach the how to create a waterproof housing for the light source. Jaynes focuses on projecting the light directly out and away from the boat to induce fluorescence in the pigments used in ultraviolet fishing line.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,161,769 to Elliott describes an illuminated handrail constructed to inherently prevent entry of water. The Elliott handrail is constructed of stainless steel and uses fluorescent bulbs for illumination. As with the Jaynes patent, the Elliott patent does not teach a waterproof housing for the invention""s light source.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,515,393 to Sauter describes a neon lighted roll bar. The Sauter roll bar incorporates neon light in a central portion of the overhead crossbar. The Sauter roll bar is not waterproof nor does it suggest marine use.
For the above reasons, there is a need for, a marine lighted grab rail that is waterproof and direct current powered that produces an indirect light source to illuminate its surroundings.
The present invention is directed to an apparatus that satisfies the need of providing an indirect light source for handrails on a marine vessel that is waterproof and direct current powered. The apparatus comprises of a stainless steel tube that defines an aperture that runs most of the tube""s length. The stainless steel tube is mounted on at least a pair of mounting brackets. A variety of mounting brackets may be used to mount the grab rail to the boat. The mounting bracket incorporates an aperture adjusting means that allows the stainless steel tube""s aperture to be positioned at any angle, preferably towards the body supporting the brackets thereby reducing the normal glare produced by the current state of the art.
A water tube light assembly can be fabricated by performing the following steps. First, one acquires a tube light having a first and second ends. Then an electrical wire is connected to each end of the tube light. Next, the tube light and the electric wire assembly are placed inside a waterproof transparent housing. The waterproof housing has a first and second end. Finally, a sealent is injected into the waterproof transparent housing""s ends after the unattached ends of the electric wires exit the waterproof transparent housing.
Prior to mounting the stainless steel tube to the mounting bracket, a waterproof tube light assembly would be housed inside of the stainless steel tube. The waterproof tube light assembly comprises of a light tube, at least a pair of wires, a pair of plugs and a waterproof transparent housing. The light tube is first attached to the wires, then the light tube and wire assembly are housed inside of the waterproof transparent housing and lastly the plugs are inserted at each end of the waterproof transparent housing. The plugs, preferably a sealant such as silicon, allow the ends of the wires not attached to the tube light to exit the waterproof transparent housing. The wires would lastly be connected to a direct current power source to make the invention operational.
Accordingly, it is a principle object of the invention to provide an illuminated grab rail with enhanced efficiency for both energy consumption and light dispersion.
It is another object of the invention to increase the visibility of a handrail by providing an indirect light source that would not produce a direct glare that is associated with dome light in marine environments.
It is another object of the invention to provide an illuminated grab rail with improved tolerance to the rigors of marine use. In other words, a grab rail that is impervious to water and resistant to corrosion.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a grab rail whose illumination effect may be modified via an easily repositioned aperture.
It is an object of the invention to provide improved elements and arrangements thereof in a grab rail for the purposes described which is inexpensive, durable, and fully effective in accomplishing its intended purposes.
These and other objects of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings.